Utility Fleet Professional Late Summer 2015 : Page 36

FLEET ELECTRIFICATION Utilities Push Toward Photo: General Motors INDUSTRY LEADERS SHARED THEIR EV VISION AND PROGRESS AT EUFMC. by Sean M. Lyden Despite the recent trend toward lower fuel prices, vehicle electrification is a hot topic right now among utility fleets, as highlighted at the recent Electric Utility Fleet Managers Conference (EUFMC) held in Wil-liamsburg, Va. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), an association of investor-owned utilities, is leading the electrification effort and, according to some fleet managers we spoke to at the conference, many public utilities are following suit. The EUFMC general session opened with a keynote address delivered by Jim Piro, president and CEO of Portland General Electric, who said that from the utility CEO perspective, expanding 36 the electric vehicle (EV) market is a strategic initiative to increase demand for a specific utility product — electricity. Piro went on to say that the challenge for electric utilities is slow growth in retail loads. If this trend doesn’t change, utilities may be forced to ask regulators for a rate increase, and such requests usually don’t go over well with the public. So, how can utilities increase retail demand and keep rates affordable? The solution, Piro said, is to promote trans-portation electrification. EEI announced its transportation electrifi-cation initiative in November 2014, during a White House event with U.S. Energy Secretary Dr. Ernest Moniz and former Counselor to the President John Podesta. According to Piro, who also sits on the EEI transportation electrification committee, the initiative seeks to achieve these four objectives: 1. Increase commitment to fleet electrification. To date, more than 70 investor-owned electric utilities have committed to devote at least 5 percent of their total annual fleet acquisition budgets to the purchase of plug-in EVs and tech-nologies. 2. Support employee adoption programs. Provide incentives for employees to own EEI Electrification Initiative Utility Fleet Professional | LATE SUMMER 2015